WAYS Tips for NEW BAYS Travel Team Coaches

New to Coaching BAYS? These tips and guidelines should help you in your new role as a BAYS travel coach. If you have any questions or need assistance during the season, don't hesitate to reach out to your respective BAYS Boys or Girls Commissioner or to the WAYS President. See WAYS Board Members to access contact info.

Communicating with Parents

Send out game schedule & orange schedule at beginning of season

Oranges: if parent can’t do, have them contact another parent directly, not your job

Communicating With Opposing BAYS Coaches

Send email confirming game about 1 week out (Sunday is good), get their cell, request he/she provides field directions

Report score to section captain within 24 hours after game (captain will say who reports, home team or winning team)

Rescheduling Games

Hardest thing you’ll do!

• Rain, lightning, home town officials (not coaches) make the call; soccer is played in the rain; Wayland may cancel home games, but away games could still be played. See WAYS Lightning Policy for help with decision making - for both home and away games in the interest of safety.

When weather turns bad fast, can be difficult; you’ll be speaking w coach, and emailing team almost simultaneously… this is why you get the big bucks!

Holidays & vacation: survey team now for April vacation and memorial weekend game; for fall, survey for Jewish holidays and Columbus weekend game at beg of season. See WAYS Policy on Religious Holiday Observance. Let opposing coach know at beginning of the season about dates NOT permitted by WAYS.

Canceled games need to be made up within 3 weeks or else are forfeited, consider “pre-poning” games

For home game make ups, request rescheduled date via WAYS website, but not before you have polled your team and agreed on date with other coach. See corresponding Reschedule Game button under the Coaches tab.

It is OK not to have a full team for a make up game (in fact you almost never will).

Try to reschedule on weekends, or Fridays. Weekdays are difficult due to rush hour traffic, depending upon travel distance

Other

# of practices? try for 2, in spring this is more challenging, so you may only get one.

Placement: U9 & 10, WAYS has mixed teams at this level, many other towns are 100% skill based, even at this level, so be conservative when requesting division and level during team formation process (end of each season for the upcoming).

Wayland is a smaller town, many other towns have greater population and in general can have stronger teams because of this. Consider playing down when in doubt.

Player ratings: force rank players using A, B, C’s, using plus and minuses. DO NOT predominantly use B’s, this isn’t helpful to the ranking process, and YOUR RATINGS WILL BE REJECTED AND RETURNED TO YOU FOR CORRECTION.